I Drove to Another Country
Posted: Monday, June 01, 2009
by Dianne Lehmann
Artisan Jewelry from SyZyGy
Well, not really. But it sure felt like it for a number of reasons. You wouldn't think that 2,000 feet of elevation could make that much difference. On its own it doesn't, but there were other factors.
It took me about an hour and a half to reach the Coconino Country Fairgrounds in Flagstaff Arizona at the location of the old Fort Tuthill . That was about a half an hour less than I had anticipated. The occasion was a horse show; a big one. I didn't know I would be going until about 21 hours before I had to hit the road.
On the way there, as I got up in elevation to 6,000 feet, the pine trees started showing up. I was prepared for that, I've been to Flag (as locals and just about everyone else refers to it) before. What was amazing to me was how green everything was. Where I live, we've had our fair share of rain, but things just aren't that green around here. You see photographs of wet pine forests in books and on television and I realize that some people live in such forests, but that's not me. I felt like I had hopped on a plane and flown to Canada or something.
Then there were the horses and their riders. Dressage has always had a very "British" flavor to me. It is so proper. The horses are all bathed and groomed. Tails are combed and trimmed; manes are braided and hooves are painted. The riders are all wearing black show coats and white breeches. Their shirts are white with high banded collars and fancy pins at the throat. Helmets are black velvet or in a top hat shape and gloves are black or white. Long hair is tied up in a bun or a fancy braid. With all the rain, I felt as if I had been magically transported to Great Britain . Of course the rampant lightning and attendant thunder put the lie to that. There is nothing that quite matches an angry, high-mountain, Arizona thunderstorm.
The woman I had gone to help with her Friesian (Black Belgian) horse never got to ride her test. With all the lightning delays (they can ride in the rain, but not when the lightning is hot and fast and close), her ride was pushed way back and truth be told, her horse was not too happy about the weather. The hours we had spent getting him ready went for naught. Just getting him back to his stall was a test all its own. Quite a few of the horses took it all in stride, but the Friesian wasn't the only one to go a little off his nut.
By the end of the day (I got in my car a little before 6:00 p.m. to finally head home), I felt like I was in some movie and it wasn't all real. I had eaten too little and not had enough water. I was soaked through, so cold that I had finally stopped shivering and came close to freezing. You know, those scenes in movies and television shows where the protagonist is stuck out in the rain, soaking wet with water dripping off his/her nose and chin and ears. It's running down the backs of their necks and puddling up at the base of their throats as they are yelling profanities at their girlfriend/boyfriend as they drive away. I wasn't yelling profanities at anyone, though, and was thanking the guardian angel that put the idea into my head to take a towel with me and also an extra warm top.
I sat in my car for a bit, happy to be finally out of the rain even if no warmer. I toweled my hair as dry as I could, peeled out of my wettest top and put on the dry one. I couldn't do anything about my jeans being soaked to my knees, but hey, I was pretty happy. I was no longer squishing through the mud (I never slipped and fell, thank goodness, that might have been too much) and I had gotten the water out of my ears.
There is nothing like traveling to a foreign place to make you happy to be home again and laying back in a tub full of scalding hot water just waiting for your muscles to unlock and the renewed shivers to subside. Would I volunteer for something like this again? In a heartbeat. It isn't every day you get to drive to another country.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)What an incredible ride you have taken us on, Dianne. I felt like I was there, and still feel as if I would like to be.Thank you ...Hi Ken.I'm so glad that you enjoyed it!Sunday morning there was actually snow on top of the San Francisco Peaks just north of Flag. They are quite a bit higher than Flag, but still that gives you an idea of just how cold it was. It was a crazy journey. When driving home, I finally came down out of the rain and hit some clear skies, I was so happy. And I'm not a weather bigot who thinks that only sunshine is good.All in all, it was a great adventure of the best kind ... the kind from which you come home safe and sound.Thanks for reading and commenting,Dianne
I enjoyed your article Dianne... You created a great visual....and feeling of experiencing your experience with you.. well done!Hi Ruby.You know, it was such a big sensory experience that it wasn't really too hard to impart some of it. But big thanks all the same. I'm glad that you liked it.Thanks for taking the time to comment. I always appreciate that.Dianne
hi dianne,what an adventurous person you are. i give you so much credit for doing something that is difficult, but that you enjoy, come rain or shine:)keep reaching for those high points in life.my best to you,sueHi Sue.I don't know that I am so much adventurous and just maybe a bit unlucky. When I volunteered to help, I had no idea the weather was going to be so bad.I think the high point was actually getting that poor horse back to his stall and comfortable again. I felt really good about that.Thank you, Sue, for reading and commenting. Take care and know that I think about you often.Hugs,Dianne
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